2013.05.22 - Getting the Hell Outta Hell
Amanda has been busy, since she was so unceremoniously tossed out of Hell by... The Voice. Whomever that was. She awoke in the middle of her casting circle, some hours after she went in, exhausted and with the world's biggest migraine. Not that it's stopped her much. No, indeed. She spent hours thereafter in research, trying to find something that might help her figure out how to breech the Veil and return to that infernal place. Finally stumbling upon a ritual that might work, she summoned a handful of the X-Men and borrowed a small portion of their energy to help open the the way. Now, it swirls in front of them, full of indigo and violet energy, inky shadows, and the whiff of sulfur and brimstone. In short, it looks like a bamf suspended in mid-air. Glancing back at the men who have joined her, Amanda gives a tight, humourless smile. "This is it," she tells them. "Let's go pull fuzzy tail out of the fire..." Old Fuzzy Tail. Kurt Wagner. Scott, or Cyclops as he's now dressed, has known Kurt for the better part of a decade now. At least on one side of the friendship, things have been rather icy of late for reasons that have been well documented. But when the time comes to go help Kurt, Cyclops was not one to hesitate. "What sort of information can you give us about where we're going?" Cyclops asks while spinning the 'valve' in his visor to give it a new setting. Tucked away in their spot that Amanda's briar-patched up (after a fashion), the fire is embers, though it's not needed for warmth. It was to cook the infernal beast that Kurt and Domino had for dinner.. or at least some meal. It had been awhile, after all, since either ate- and while not filling, it was enough to keep the pangs away. At least for Kurt, it was. The blue elf keeps watch over the albino merc, but that doesn't mean he's got idle hands. After all, what is it 'they' say about idle hands? Kurt's out and about, hanging upon the side of the sides of the red rockface, yellow glowing eyes peering in the dimly lit distance. He is there for a long moment before, *bamf* A rather weaker version of it, actually.. but there.. there it is. Upon landing on the ground, Kurt is on all fours, his tail swaying in the air as he tries to get his equilibrium back from the unexpected success. Shaking his head to dislodge shadows, and fuzziness, he blinks.. and there comes a second, ''*bamf* And he arrives back in with Domino.. landing from his teleport upon the rock just above her... and he calls out, "Leibling!" Of course.. in the near distance, teleportation always gains someone's attention... Speaking of icy, the Iceman's in uniform and full organic ice form right now. Normally he'd hold back on this new form but they're going into a hell dimension and someone he considers a close friend is in danger. So he's going with this tougher form for the fights sure to come. Fully refreshed, he looks to the others and then to Amanda. "Yeah, about how many demons are we going to get jumped by?" For those not accustomed to living in Hell, there's a lot of adjustments that need to be made. Domino did get some rest, of a fashion, but it's not what one would consider to be a peaceful nap. For the last few hours she had been alone with her thoughts, closed off from the unforgiving world around her. When she comes to she does so with a start, perspiration dotting her forehead, eyes wide, blade already in hand. No demons... Just half of one. "Dammit, Kurt..! What now?" Pause. "..Which one of us is inverted?" It's been a rough night. The stench of sulfur is barely noticed anymore, the entire dimension reeks of it. By now Nightcrawler's teleporting might actually help -clear- the air than foul it. All it takes is his voice, and by gods is she ever awake now. A cigar in his mouth and a black and grey analogue to the X-Men uniform covering his stout frame, Wolverine is unhesitant in lending his life-force to the ritual; even if he didn't have something of an infamous abundance thereof. He chews absently at the stogie, the only subtle exhibit of nerves at all, as the feral mutant awaits the legendary go-time. "Not enough." is Logan's gruff response to Bobby's concern. The Canucklehead is not about to let -all- of Hell stand between them and their objective. Otherwise, Wolverine just listens to the intel (or lack thereof) and cracks his knuckles, stepping forward slightly towards the gathering gateway. "As near as either of us can figure," Amanda tells Scot, Bobby and Logan, preparing to cross over, "this is the dimension Kurt passes through whenever he bamfs. He got caught there mid-bamf thanks to a sedative overload he took at the hands of a man trying to collect clearly mutant specimens for some sort a zoo." She gestures to Bobby to include him in her next statement. "We managed to shut them down and rescue those they'd captured, but Kurt and Domino disappeared." She gestures to the portal, now. "''This is where they ended up. Most everything I saw when I was there last was lethal, full of fangs and claws. Don't be surprised if they spit fire, acid, or who knows what else, either. I saw hellhounds, winged demons, and other creatures that belong in Dante's Inferno." She straightens her shoulders and looks at the portal. "So. Expect all Hell to break loose, gentlemen. That's what we're in for." Taking a deep breath, now -- the last sulfur-free breath she'll have for a while -- she murmurs a spell to give her an impressive set of mage armour and steps through to see what lurks beyond. Cyclops lets out an exhale before responding a bit sarcastically, "Sounds like fun." There's no joy in his voice and his circular motion that changes the flow of his power rests on one of the higher settings. He looks over his shoulder at the other X-men as Amanda passes through the portal. He gives Iceman and Wolverine a nod before doing the same, and entering the fiery abyss. "Oh.. me. Sorry.." and Kurt slides on a hand to set himself aright. He's used to being upside down, sideways.. such that regardless of how he lands, he's fine. Usually. Landing on his feet, Kurt settles into that comfortable crouch of his, and his scabbed up tail continues to sway. "I can actually.. bamf." He pauses a moment, the smile settled plainly on that darkened, shadowed blue fuzzy face. "I did it. So.." There's a pause in his words, and he stands up, his gaze setting towards the opening of their particular little fissure. "I.. think we should go." While there is no appreciable sound coming from the direction the elf looks.. there is something of movement.. "My *bamf* might have set them off." Or, you know.. it could be a giant portal into the realm from Earth's realm that might have gotten all of Hell's attention? "Well. Stay frosty, people," Iceman remarks, tightening his bandana a little. His ice grows more dense as Amanda speaks, Iceman strengthening his defenses. "Let's try to avoid it breaking loose. It'd suck to fight it there and then have to clean up demons here too," he tries joking as he follows along into the brimstone dimension. "Well, that's a relief," Domino mutters while scratching the side of her head with the metal base of her knife. "Was worried that I was defying the laws of physics again for a second, there. Gah, head's killing me." Oh hey, he's getting his power back! "Why didn't you say so? Let's see if we can't get Bamfus Returnicus to start working for us like it used to," comes her response while the blade slides back into its Kydex sheath. "Going, yes, I'm all for --you don't mean leaving the dimension, do you. Now our hidey hole's been compromised?" There's a weary sigh as she pushes herself back up to equally weary legs, "This just keeps getting better. Alright, you've got point." So never coming back here... Stinks like... well, a certain Elf with the Bamf dial cranked to 11. Wolverine can't help but scrunch up his face rather dramatically by the time he's approaching that portal-- much less /through/ it. Shallow breaths. It doesn't stop the myriad of scents in the dark place from assailing his senses, even if he -is through the portal quickly, right with the others, followed by a quick, stereo *SNIKT* as six adamantium razors extrude from behind clenched fists. In the very next instant, the still-smoking stump of a cigar is spat to the side, tumbling in a shower of embers and ash along the broken ground of the otherworldly wasteland; that first mark is probably the subtlest Logan will make, here. He sniffs at the air more intently, with purpose, then frowns deeply, "Anyone got a clever way to track the Elf in a place where every flamin' thing smells like his ass?" Because Wolverine would really rather not rely on his nose, here. Three guesses why. When the quartet of X-Men have entered the portal, Amanda turns back to it and begins to weave a cloaking spell surrounding it not just with wards to confuse and keep it unseen by the demonic inhabitants of this realm (Sorry, Kurt!), but also to prevent them from crossing the protective barrier she places around it. Because, really? There is only one demon she wants crossing out of this little slice of Hell. And that's her demon. "If they haven't moved," Amanda tells Logan, now, "I know where they are." She spiked the place with her own magic... figuratively speaking. Wrinkling her nose, partly in thought and partly at the smell, she points off in the distance to where a high thornwall can be seen to rise above a low gully. "That way," she says. In the distance, a wailing howl can be heard. After a heartbeat, further howls take up the call. "Blutige verdammten Hölle," she swears. "Here comes the welcoming committee. She rises up off the ground and starts priming a spell for the hellhounds' approach. Cyclops exhales through his nose as he prepares, "Iceman, be ready to build some defensive walls in case we need it. Daytripper, be sure to communicate information that we might not be able to see from our vantage point-" Cyclops stops abruptly as his eyes fall on Logan. "Wolverine-just do what you do." "You only defy the laws of logic, leibling," Kurt quips, and he looks out from the hidey-hole. He's ready to move, and getting back down to all-fours, he's ready to move out on point. "I can *bamf*," he offers. Kurt is taking a route that'll keep them to their side rather than behind them. As he moves, however, those glowing yellow eyes look to that middle distance, and he slows... his expression turning puzzled. "I don't think they're after us..." Huh.. Standing straight, Kurt looks very much like that prairie-dog again, blinking. "I.. I think we have to go that way.." And he's off! At the first howl, the temperture around Iceman drops dramatically. He cracks his neck and frost spreads around his feet. "Way ahead of ya, Cyke," Iceman replies, already starting to form up a few icy cover walls to hide behind just in case. "How many can you see up there?" he calls to Amanda. It's the kind of oblivion that tortures minds, souls. A vast, otherworldly hellscape cast in unnatural reds, landmarks and flora that defy all natural order or familiarity. For Wolverine? It's a paradise versus some of the mindscapes that litter his decisively trapped psyche, or at least dramatically less personal; that conditioning through trauma may be part of what makes Logan the expert he is at, well, what he does. "Best there is at that." Wolverine affirms in reply to Cyclops' battle plan, taking up point as the obvious vanguard for the group, forward along the direction Amanda indicated. "We hunker down, gonna be overrun fast." The veteran hypothesizes, clearly expecting everyone to fall into step-- double time-- towards Nightcrawler. They'll just have to fight on the move. "Better no one has a clue what they're dealin' with until we're on our way back out." If then. "Logic's no fun, anyway," Domino replies in a halfway distracted tone from behind the Blue One. "At least when you break physics you know that you've accomplished something." They're not after us. Her next response follows the sound of a pistol being drawn with the safety disengaged. "You think Am made it back?" Because who else would they be going after? This place can't see too many visitors, right? Once you're here that's generally it, isn't it? Ah heck, she has no idea how this crazy place works. "You think we have to g--hey, wait up!" "Six... eight..." Amanda is counting quickly. "There's at least a dozen," she tells the others, charging up her magic bolts so that her hands glow with a bright purple energy. "They're spreading out to flank." Smarter than your average wolves. They look a lot like a cross between a wolf on steroids and a blunt-nosed lizard with oversized fangs. She can't see either Kurt or Domino, at this point. But, being a bright shining beacon of light in the hellish green sky, as she is, she's honestly looking out for other things... like the brothers of the big flying dude that tried to take her down the last time she tried this trick. In most military style missions, Cyclops is usually one to be cautious and advocate a silent approach. It's clear, however, that this is not that sort of mission and an attempt to remain hidden would end in certain death. Logan's right, a moving attack is the only way to do this, and so he doesn't bother to re-affirm or be a toadie. Once Cyclops sees the enemy on the edge of his vision, he unleashes a wide arc of his optic-blast. The red beam blasts from his visor and launches out towards the beasts that Amanda mentioned, carrying with it a mighty force. Kurt grins as he slows, looking back from his lope. "Sadly, I am still a slave to physics. Logic, I am with you." No one has EVER claimed the blue elf was logical. At least never to his face. It's when that red burst of light breaks through the oppressive air that Kurt simply can't help himself. "What do you think?" He's leading her towards the cavalry, but.. Off to the side, flanking, perhaps known to the group far before them, or not, well.. is another four. Only they're a little bigger, even from this distance. He stops completely, his tail swaying, and looks back to the merc. "We could do this the easy way, or the hard way," Kurt murmurs. "I could take us into the middle of them," does she see them? They're rather.. scary looking, which is saying something. "Or, I could get us closer, und.. over there," he points off to a diagonal. "Where they might not see us, but they might sense the *bamf*." And there's no saying that he'll be able to take the two of them -and- be right for combat out of the teleport! "Speedbumps it is then!" Iceman calls, adding some spikes to the tops of the walls to hopefully deter the hounds a little. He takes to the air on his ice slides so Amanda isn't the only target in the air and he can watch her back. Spotting some of the flanking hounds, Iceman launches some icy spears their way to help show that coming after the X-men is a bad idea. Optic blast, ho! "I think reinforcements have just arrived," the albino replies while drawing and rolling a second gun around her crooked index finger. "C'mon, let's go kick Logic's ass." Setback. He's not one hundred percent yet, Domino. Normally she'd expect them to port in right next to their allies so they can all exit stage left with the utmost of haste. Instead, she gets to choose from two meager options. Guns blazing, or ambush? Her power does tend to work at its best when she throws herself into the thick of things... "We don't have time to get fancy with this. Get us to ground zero so we can mop up and get out of here. I've gotcha covered." Prep for combat bamf in three..two..one... Caution and silence have their uses: it's just that those uses go out the window when a pack of a dozen blood-crazed and ravenous demonic hounds are hunting for one's squad, and already have their scent. It's a dangerous situation that Wolverine has a particularly keen grasp of: his senses, even in this hellhole, speak volumes of veritable armies of devils and a full bestiary of scents and sounds that the Canucklehead can't quite place. Part of Logan is extremely glad for that, part of him knows it's always better to know when something wants to shed one's blood. Either way, the meaning is clear: their time here is limited, if they want to survive the experience. When Cyclops' crimson beam blasts through the midst of the circling pack, Wolverine charges in nearly the same instant, right out past the defensive perimeter that might force the Hounds into a chokepoint of ice to face the X-Men. On the surface, it's unwise in the extreme. That choice seperates Logan from immediate proximity of his teammates as he pre-emptively lunges up the left side of Scott's attack, sprinting with sudden speed oft unexpected of a man of his girth before launching into a similarly agile, leaping onslaught. On the descent, adamantium razords lead, and the Canuck roars as a cross-section of horizontal strokes, back and forth, slather his surroundings in the blood and viscera of that leading, (un?)luckiest hellhound. One might think he's trying to divert /all/ of the vicious beasts' attention to his part in the counterattack, as snarling visage turns on the next in line; one might not be mistaken. And Amanda quite appreciates having Iceman at her back. She lets loose a pair of magic bolts on the other flank and follows it up with a funnelling shield, figuring to bolster Iceman's walls and redirect the slavering beasts straight into Logan's claws or Cyke's line of sight. Even so, with the three others there, she has a moment or two to keep some sort of awareness of the rest of their surroundings. And, because she's specifically looking for winged nasties, she does detect movement off to one side that suggests more are incoming. "We're in for more company," she notes, vaguely sensing Kurt's familiar bamfs as he gets a little closer. As Wolverine leaps by him and moves into attack, Cyclops ends his wide optic blast and begins firing quicker, more tactical shots, all while trying to cover the Canadian. Surely, Logan can take care of himself, but having Wolverine on the attack is a much better proposition than having him be on the defensive. "More incoming?" Cyclops asks up towards Amanda. "What are we looking at?" "Remember I said that your fighting style helps me?" Kurt takes a hold of Domino with his tail, and in the beat of a heart, the pair of them find themselves in the middle of the big bads. One very large winged humanoid demon and what now looks to be 3 subordinates. They're busy looking at the hellhounds, and.. What the hell?! "Forget it!" Kurt finishes, as he lands on all fours again, his tail untwining. He's not far, however.. and he takes a wild leap at one of the smaller targets, fangs flashing, to land on the creature's shoulders. "This will hurt you more than it will hurt me.." *bamf* ''...off with it's head... Iceman fires off some more frigid beams to reinforce the walls and make them a little higher. No need to let the beasts over them so easily. Then it's just raining ice and snow down ont he demons from above to push them more towards his teammares. "What?" he turns attention to Amanda. "More company? Damn, would have baked a cake if I knew they were coming." Here's a curious thought. If the teleports normally pass through this dimension, what happens when one teleports while already in this dimension? Does it go somewhere else? Run parallel? Maybe go a little faster due to not having to shift realities? All Domino knows is that it's still teleporting, and teleporting and her aren't on the best of terms. When the two rematerialize they do so on the move, splitting apart to go in entirely different directions. When Kurt leaps off to one side Dom leaps forward, though her guns are aiming behind her as she flips through the air. The sound of pistol fire should be obvious enough even from a distance, especially to anyone that's worked alongside her in the past. When she lands back into the crumbling red dirt there's an acute Crack-CRUNCH! behind and to the side of her. One of the hounds broke its own ankle mid-sprint then knocked itself out cold on a raised rock directly beside her. Still got it, girl. Something weird's happening up ahead. Around where those optic blasts are coming from. "You know what?" -Blam!- "I think Hell's freezing over!" Being on the defensive? -Still- a better proposition than letting these slavering monstrosities through to his teammates. Nonetheless, the expert ranged support offered by the other X-Men makes Logan's state considerably less akin to burger than it might otherwise have been, leaving him to intercept the all-too-eager violent puppies that break the line and charge him; at least, those few that aren't blasted aside in a flash of red, or iced with extreme prejudice. With Amanda and Iceman corralling the pack, Logan makes slaughtering the outliers his own priority. He can hear Kurt and Domino's approach clearer than most, even before the gunshots make it crystal clear, and that? That means they might even make it out of here in time for a brew. One hellhound is pinned through the neck from above, crunching to the dirt for the instants it takes adamantium to end its life. Then Wolverine does start to fall back, a fighting withdrawal back to the team's position, leaving their offending numbers notably diminished; even if he does have to claw the face off another pursuer at the last moment, losing a hunk of his arm in the exchange. Breath heavy, raspy, his wild eyes dart back and forth for renewed threats. "They ain't far!" he calls out, with a degree of hope underlying the pain and intensity of battle. "Flyers," Amanda tells Scott, just as Kurt bamfs into the midst of them and... takes off a head? "Heilige Scheiße," she murmurs, defaulting back to German as she curses again. The body flops and falls unceremoniously, bleeding black ichor out onto the ground. "And Nightcrawler and Domino," the witch reports, not quite sure how to convey the rest of what she saw. So, she just leaves it. Logan's right. They're closer, now. And she starts moving the fight that way. As it is, she's also scanning for any signs that the Big Bad Voice might have decided to come see what she was doing, coming back uninvited a second time and bringing company as she has. There's nothing else to be found, however, aside from the quickly dwindling numbers of hellhounds and those now-beleaguered flyers. Cyclops looks to the sky as Amanda notes the incoming from above. Whereas before he was eager to assist Logan, now his attention is turned to assisting Iceman and Daytripper. Short red blasts arc upwards like surface-to-air missiles as he aims to take out some of the flyers coming in from above. Cyclops give a half-smile, or as much as he's likely to given the circumstances and his general demeanor. But the sound of firearms mean that Domino is in fact alive and kicking, And fighting back. Kurt appears again in the blink of an eye, and he's on the ground, crouching and shaking his head to fight the dizziness. He's breathing heavily, though he spends a moment to catch the report of the gunfire. Perfect.. absolutely perfect. Now, the hellhounds are being ground into infernal burgers, and two of the three subordinates are.. well, effectively out for the count. It's the 'big guy', then, that sounds, his voice commanding, "Tell me how you entered and I will let you live!" It's in his master's words, then, that the one remaining takes wing and flies straight up in the hope that he won't get shot out of the sky. The creature is.. red, large leather wings adorn his back, and those eyes.. pupilles glowing yellow eyes look at the two groups. He waves his hand, and those hounds that have been killed simply.. disappear, one after another.. after another. "I can bring more to bear. You will not leave here." "Flyers huh? Time to make the sky unfriendly," Iceman remarks, building up a little cold. Then there's a demon going splat and pistol fire reaching his ears. "Point my in the right direction, Daytripper and the Iceman express will get moving," he says, starting to slide again. When he sees that much larger creature, Bobby scowls in it's general direction and starts sliding towards Domino to offer her a ride. There's that voice again..! Domino's eyes and guns start darting every flippin' which-way as the attack ends in an instant, yet there's still something left to attack out there. Up in the sky. There's also an Iceman. Not here to start a war, Dom. Take your exit and go! Bobby's entrance is timed, jumping up and away from so much red to land on a slide made purely of ice. As before it's all she can do to hang on and keep her balance, which will put a serious dent in her fighting abilities. Once they stabilize in the appropriate direction, maybe then, but for now not slipping and falling is the most important bit! "Why yes, I'd love to chill with you, how'd ya guess?" It's all in the timing. They take the high road, Logan takes the low road, extending towards their errant comrades quickly through the decisively diminished horde of hellhounds. Several more are piled onto the heap to dissipate in the echo of the demonic threat, and the Wolverine simply half-grunts into a muttered, rhetorical, "Good, we're usin' these all up." He doubles his pace, angling out and around to flank and defend Iceman's flightpath and clear the area between their missing friends and the rest of the rescue team. "Bub, I only got two answers for ya. You ain't gonna like either." This is called more loudly, up towards the demonic captain; along with a flash of white, clenched teeth-- nothing approaching a smile-- and a display of crossed adamantium claws which speak in ominous, metal tones as the blades are scraped harshly along each other with a flexing of forearms. Amanda's really familiar with that Voice. She does not like that Voice. "Saugen Magier-Feuer, Sie unheilige Bastard," she growls, pulling in eldritch energy to amp up her magic bolts into a holy blast. "None of your damned business!" No. She's not going to tell him where she hid her portal. Hovering high above the others, out of the way of Bobby's slide, she lets loose her magic, fully intending payback for the flick that rendered her insensate for hours earlier. Cyclops doesn't have all the information, and that's something that never sits well with him. As Logan and Amanda prep for an attack, he's hesitant to open fire. It's the only thing here that's tried to speak first, and Scott's initial response is to wait and see what's about to happen. But once Amanda makes her attack, he knows two things: 1) They're 'All In' at this point and 2) If she's going full throttle at this guy with no reluctance, it means she is doing so for good reason. Scott trusts Amanda, and trusts her judgment. When she attacks, Cyclops opens fire with a sustained blast aimed at the captain's throat. The infernal creature raises his arms, and at the same time, something of a forcefield shield rises before him.. and his wings begin to flap as well, sending the dirt, the dust.. and the rank stench of brimstone swirling around. Wolverine's attack gains footing, however, as Amanda's all out, balls to the wall eldritch casting does more than a little bit to drain that shield. The creature is down to having to repel the stocky Canadian with teeth and claws.. something that will decidely hurt should Wolverine be touched. He's ready for the battle. Or not. Kurt's not down, not by a longshot, and for a second, the blue elf is there, and the next, he's gone.. and he appears next to Wolverine, only to disappear again.. and reappear behind and slightly above the wing'ed, monologuing demon with his friend. "Surprise!" Once delivered, Kurt drops to the ground, landing on hands and knees, his tail swaying again, and looks around for that all important sitrep. Once he's got Domino on his slide, Bobby reaches back to hook an arm around her waist to make sure she doesn't fall off. "Chicks dig the slides," he jokes. Seeing everyone else attacking to full effect, Iceman nods. "Let's join in this party," he comments to Domino before slowing the slide and firing off a beam of subzero energy at the creature in hopes of icing over its face and blinding or distracting it. "It is pretty rad," Domino agrees with a lopsided grin, putting the extra stability of Bobby's arm to good use. It lets her free up one of her own to sweep back toward Big Red the Unfriendly Hellbat and line up those shots-- --an instant before a wall of fine red dust comes sweeping around. "Gah, not cool!" As the blaster sort, her current options are somewhat limited. Don't get knocked off the slide, don't lose track of Iceman, don't get blinded, don't get killed. Everything else comes down to pulling triggers. Tiny, supersonic hunks of metal might not do a whole lot of damage to the heavyweights of Hell, but they're still fantastic distractions! A forcefield-protected, clawed, likely notably superhuman demon with wings flying above him might not seem like a fight Wolverine wants to pick; but the demonic captain is not the only one with allies. He can't precisely keep its attention firmly focused as Amanda and Cyclops open up, and he's forced to shield his eyes with one of his forearms from the suden dust-storm... but cutting off that angry monologue and the shift in attention? That provides the perfect moment, with Nightcrawler's aid. The Elf's disorienting teleportation leaves the lingering injuries, and Logan's muscles, sore; his head spinning. It's not the first time he's had to fight like that, and the Canucklehead just channels it outwards, mouth twisted into a silent snarl-- at least until he lands. His target his the beast's broad back and shoulders, right between the wings. One of which, he attempts to abruptly sever from its connection to shoulderblade, as the other set of claws simply drives inwards from behind. It's half to hold his perch, but let's face it, the fear of falling doesn't stop Wolverine from twisting those implanted weapons, or slashing again and again with the free set without missing a beat; all whilst the beast's own stature works wonders to protect him from his teammates' initial frontal assault. The third of the Big Guy's enforcers isn't a stupid demon. He may not be a master (yet), but he can certainly see which way the wind is blowing. Hissing his displeasure, he teleports away in a manner not dissimilar to Kurt's bamf -- but with a decidedly less appealing sound. In short: He's outta there. The demon master lets out an agonized bellow as Wolverine's claws rip into it. It's mouth and nostrils are quickly filled with ice from Iceman's blast. The shield breaks down under Amanda's assault and Cyke's optic beams blast through it to pummel the red-skinned behemoth's exposed throat. Domino's bullets get lucky, taking out the thing's eyes. In a matter of heartbeats, it is eyeless, headless, and frozen, the dust and debris in the air falling like rain as its claw-broken wings cease their flapping and it plummets toward the ground. (Which means Kurt better bamf Wolvie outta there before he gets smushed.) As the creature hits the red earth with an echoing slam, Amanda ceases her eldritch blast and transition to a shield in an attempt to protect her teammates. "We need to get back to the portal before someone else decides to come poking around here." Yes. Time to go home. Cyclops nods to Amanda before calling out to the others, "You guys heard the lady. Let's get the hell out of here. Everyone head back to the portal as quick as possible. I don't think anyone wants to see what a second act might bring." Scott figures that Nightcrawler and Wolverine will do their bamfing trick, and Bobby and Domino will slide on out of here. Amanda's got the magic touch, so she's in no danger, but that leaves Cyclops. He starts sprinting. Portal? What portal? Kurt looks up from where he is, and stands up from his crouch, only to see the others heading in a particular direction. But, he simply can't discern where it is they're going.. "Wo ist es?" Where is it? Cyclops' sprinting in the direction brings his attention around, and for a long moment, Kurt looks.. concerned.. and then, in a way, resigned. He can't see the destination. It is best, therefore, that the others make it through. He'll get out another way, perhaps? Iceman winces at the demon's fall but he doesn't linger. "If you need a lift, call out now," he calls to his teammates, sliding towards that portal quickly with Domino along for the ride. Big Red's down! That ..really wasn't as difficult as Dom thought it would be. "Congratulations, Wingnut! You just got tag-teamed by a bunch of gene-confused muties!" No more big uglies are inbound. They have their escape. A now empty sidearm is pointed forward over Bobby's shoulder, calling out "Onward! To..wherever the exit is!" Um. She glances sidelong at Iceman. "You guys do have an exit strategy, right?" As the demonic lieutenant falls from on high under the combined onslaught of the X-Men (no doubt prompting exceptionally colorful combo procs with fancy names if adapted to other media), Wolverine.. well. Wolverine holds on for dear life, riding the rapidly accelerating devil towards the dusty wasteland, where the pair impact in a tremendous shockwave that sends red dust and rock in all directions, momentarily obscuring the landing site from view; and breaking the poor demon even more dramatically. Logan, for his part, rolls free only a moment later with a little groan, hacks and spits out bits of dust, and wipes at his face in a motion that seems to /spread/ more grime and blood than it clears. Then he's in motion with the others, smacking Kurt on the shoulder as he takes off back towards the portal; and probably dragging the Elf by one ear if that doesn't jar him into motion. "This way, Elf. Move yer ass." Because somehow, he doesn't expect the rampant and sudden slaughter of all these demonic assailants to go unnoticed for long-- if those sounds on the edge of his hearing don't -already- indicate incoming reinforcements. As the group of mutants nears the place Amanda warded, she soars ahead of them. Making one last sweep to ensure no other demons or similar entities are following them, she undoes the wards and spells she placed around the portal to keep the denizens of this realm away from it. As the magic falls away, the swirling Vortex of Bamf can be clearly seen by all -- Nightcrawler included. And whether Kurt likes it or not, she will be the last one out, because she needs to be in order to see the portal fully and safely sealed behind them. Thus, she stands by it, waving each of them through, back to the Mansion. Back to home and safety. Category:Log